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Smallpox and epidemic deaths, 422–425

موتان الجدري والوباء ٤٢٢–٤٢٥

c. 1031 CE · 422 AH – c. 1034 CE · 425 AH

Baghdad → Isfahan → Mosul

The deaths ran on for four years. In 422 rain came late, bodies dried out, coughing and sickness multiplied, to the point that the sale of broth boomed. In 423 the epidemic spread over India, Ghazna, Khurasan, Jurjan and al-Rayy; forty thousand were buried in Isfahan within a few days, and in the land of al-Jibal, while four thousand boys died of smallpox in Mosul, and smallpox swept Baghdad from April to October so that no house was spared. In 424 smallpox befell the caliph himself when he entered the bath, and he was lifted out of it. In 425 death multiplied, especially among women in al-Hawaniq, and it was said that in Dhu al-Hijjah seventy thousand died in Baghdad 1 2 3 4 5.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Buyid, Fatimid and Seljuk Era
Region
Levant & Iraq · Persia & Central Asia
Review
Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it

In time

1020103010401050 c.
The Buyid, Fatimid and Seljuk Era

In space

BaghdadIsfahanMosul

Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph

Health, body and death

Summary

Between 422 and 425 AH a run of deadly calamities struck the lands of Islam: drought, epidemics and smallpox spread through Khurasan, al-Jabal, Iraq and Egypt. It was said that forty thousand were buried in Isfahan within a few days, and that seventy thousand died in Baghdad in Dhu al-Hijja 425; these are the figures the sources give. 6

From calamities to smallpox

In 422 the rain was late, bodies dried out, and coughing and calamities multiplied until the sale of broth became brisk. In 423 the epidemic came and spread through India, Ghazna, Khurasan, Jurjan, Ray and al-Jabal, and four thousand boys died of smallpox in Mosul. 7

Baghdad and the caliph

In Baghdad smallpox spread from April to October, and no house was spared. In 424 the caliph al-Qaʾim himself caught smallpox when he entered the bathhouse, and he was helped out. Death increased in 425, especially among the women of al-Hawaniq. 8

Connections

Explore the connections

Occurred at
Baghdad· Isfahan· Mosul
Had participant
al-Qa'im bi-Amr Allah Abd Allah ibn al-Qadir

People and things also explored

The death of al-Qadir and the accession of al-Qa'im bi-amr Allah, 422· The diwan manifesto impugning the Ubaydid genealogy· The battle of al-Basasiri and the sermon for the Ubaydi al-Mustansir in Baghdad· Death of Abu Kalijar and investiture of al-Malik al-Rahim· The death of al-Qa'im bi-Amr Allah and the accession of al-Muqtadi· The public declaration of al-Qa'im bi-Amr Allah as heir, 421· The return of al-Qa'im from Haditha to Baghdad· The marriage of al-Qa'im bi-Amr Allah to Tughril Beg's sister

Sources

  1. al-Muntazam fi Tarikh al-Muluk wa'l-Umam — Ibn al-Jawzi , j.8 p.402
  2. al-Muntazam fi Tarikh al-Muluk wa'l-Umam — Ibn al-Jawzi , j.8 p.411-412
  3. al-Muntazam fi Tarikh al-Muluk wa'l-Umam — Ibn al-Jawzi , j.8 p.414
  4. al-Muntazam fi Tarikh al-Muluk wa'l-Umam — Ibn al-Jawzi , j.8 p.419
  5. al-Muntazam fi Tarikh al-Muluk wa'l-Umam — Ibn al-Jawzi , j.8 p.422
  6. al-Muntazam fi Tarikh al-Muluk wa'l-Umam — Ibn al-Jawzi , j.8 p.402, 411-412, 422
  7. al-Muntazam fi Tarikh al-Muluk wa'l-Umam — Ibn al-Jawzi , j.8 p.402, 411-412
  8. al-Muntazam fi Tarikh al-Muluk wa'l-Umam — Ibn al-Jawzi , j.8 p.412, 414, 419
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Smallpox and epidemic deaths, 422–425”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/smallpox-epidemic-423/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-22.

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The death of al-Qadir and the accession of al-Qa'im bi-amr Allah, 422

The caliph al-Qadir bi'llah died on the night of Monday 11 Dhu'l-Hijja 422, aged eighty-six years, ten months and twenty-one days, having reigned forty-one years and three months, a span no caliph before him had reached. The doors were shut; then al-Qa'im bi-amr Allah came out at the time of 'asr, led the people in the maghrib prayer, prayed over his father with four takbirs, and sat in the Dar al-Shajara in a shirt and mantle. The people gave him bay'a, first among them al-Sharif al-Murtada, and on the next day Abu Ahmad al-Hasan ibn Isa ibn al-Muqtadir came and gave bay'a too. The Turks clamoured over the bay'a money; when a Hashimite killed a Turk, a signed decree of the caliph was issued on the matter, and it was settled that the bay'a be levied at three million dinars. Among his well-known displays of tact, he put up a caravanserai, a garden and a heap of goods for sale to meet it. He gave titles to the viziers and chamberlains and arranged the offices of state.